Sue Ann Nivens

The role of Sue Ann Nivens was not specifically written for White, but script #73 of the series ("The Lars Affair", originally aired September 15, 1973)[1] called for an "icky sweet Betty White type". The show's casting director decided to approach the star herself, who with her husband Allen Ludden was already good friends with Mary Tyler Moore and her then husband, the show's producer Grant Tinker. Producers were aware of Moore and White's friendship and were initially hesitant to audition White for the role. The fear was that if Moore wasn't right, it would create awkwardness between the two.[2] In playing Sue Ann, the actress played up her character as a cheerful, home-and-hearth loving woman as a contrasting cover for a backbiting, sexually voracious nature.[3] Her debut appearance was in the sitcom's first episode of the fourth season.[4] This was supposed to be a one-time guest role but James L. Brooks, who created the series, said, "Don't make too many plans."[5]

Sue Ann Nivens was the relentlessly perky star of The Happy Homemaker on the fictional WJM-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her program delivered advice to housewives on cooking and decorating. She chose unusual and sometimes ludicrous themes for some episodes, such as "What's all this fuss about famine?" and "A salute to fruit". Nivens was a perfectionist; she once confessed she would rather flush her Veal Prince Orloff down a toilet than serve it reheated. She was also full of helpful hints for all occasions and always ready to make lemons into lemonade; she once suggested buying colorful, happy goldfish as companions for the infirm and then, when the goldfish died, using them as fertilizer for houseplants.

Although Sue Ann presented an image of a sweet, perfect wife and homemaker on-screen, she was actually sardonic, man-obsessed, and very competitive.

Reflecting on the role, White has said, "Of course, I loved Sue Ann. She was so rotten. You can’t get much more rotten than the neighborhood nymphomaniac."[6] The role earned White two Emmy Awards as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1975 and 1976), with a further nomination following in the show's final season, 1977.[7] Asked about her favorites among her many awards to date, she cites these won for The Mary Tyler Moore Show.[8] White gives a great deal of credit for the role's success to the scripts, speaking of being "blessed with the kind of writing on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and [the later series] The Golden Girls"[9]

On The Golden Girls, debuting eight years later, White was originally cast as man-hungry Blanche Devereaux; and Rue McClanahan, the befuddled Vivian Harmon on Maude, was cast as naive Rose Nylund. The two actresses realized how similar their new roles were to their previous ones and, at the suggestion of veteran comedy director Jay Sandrich, approached the producers about switching roles. (White quotes Sandrich as saying, "If Betty plays another man-hungry neighborhood you-know-what, they're going to equate it with Sue Ann and think it's just a continuation of that.")[10] The producers agreed, and the show went on to great success.[11] White stated in January 2017 that she greatly enjoyed playing the character of Rose, as opposed to Blanche.[12]

• Sanes, Ken. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–77)." Transparencynow.com, 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2012 <http://www.transparencynow.com/mary.htm>.